XLSX Music Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Hi everyone, I've just released my debut album which has all been done in Cakewalk. I've been using Cakewalk since around Sonar 8 but only started learning to use it properly over the last couple of years. I'm a solo artist and I'm doing absolutely everything myself so I'm really proud to have completed a full album and I'm very happy with the overall quality. I used Cakewalk in conjunction with Addictive Drums, Slate All Access plugins and Slate VSX headphones. I would love any feedback on the album as it will help me improve on my new work. And if you like it I would be massively grateful of a follow/like etc. Links to all sites below. https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/xlsx/sometimes-the-way-forward-is-backwards Stranger Things seems to be my most popular song. 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack c. Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 cool title and well done song.jack c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 1, 2023 Author Share Posted December 1, 2023 2 hours ago, jack c. said: cool title and well done song.jack c Thanks so much for listening Jack, I'm glad you enjoyed it. The title is a reference to a few personal decisions I made this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSband Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 Listened to I Want You, good sounding production and well written song. I found the guitars kind of jarring when they come in, pretty loud, otherwise very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 2, 2023 Author Share Posted December 2, 2023 48 minutes ago, KSband said: Listened to I Want You, good sounding production and well written song. I found the guitars kind of jarring when they come in, pretty loud, otherwise very nice. Thanks so much for checking it out. I'm glad you liked the song and production. As for the guitars coming in, I did want it to be a little bit jarring and unexpected following the intro but I appreciate that's not to everyone's tastes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Wilson Posted December 2, 2023 Share Posted December 2, 2023 Good song, good mix, fun listen! Next! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 2, 2023 Author Share Posted December 2, 2023 2 hours ago, Lynn Wilson said: Good song, good mix, fun listen! Next! Thanks Lynn 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bajan Blue Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 22 hours ago, KSband said: Listened to I Want You, good sounding production and well written song. I found the guitars kind of jarring when they come in, pretty loud, otherwise very nice. Hi Agree with KS re the guitars - good sounding track otherwise Nigel  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 3, 2023 Author Share Posted December 3, 2023 52 minutes ago, Bajan Blue said: Hi Agree with KS re the guitars - good sounding track otherwise Nigel  Thanks for listening Nigel. Maybe I went slightly too far on the guitars... Glad you liked the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 I just listened to the whole thing and the first good news is that time passed quickly..... I don't consider myself to be any kind of expert, but overall your mixes come across well listening on my tablet thingy (that has surprisingly good sound all things considered). I agree with the comments re guitars on the song mentioned here. I get what you're going for, but maybe slightly overcooked. For future reference, if asked to name someone here who regularly nails a mix, Nigel would probably be the first person I (and I'm sure others) would think of, so any advice from him should probably be considered to be good advice. Based on a single listen Stranger Things is probably the stand out track for me. Listened to as a whole the album is maybe a bit one-paced/samey, but I guess you could also just call that consistent. At one point the next song appeared to have the change of pace/mood that I had been kind of partly waiting for ......and my ears pricked up a little.... Ooh I thought, here we go......that turned out to be an advert, LOL! Anyway, it's all good. On a personal note I would have liked to hear a little more grit in the vocals, but that's personal taste rather than a fault as such. Congrats on finishing the first one. I'll be interested to hear what comes next.   Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 2 hours ago, paulo said: I just listened to the whole thing and the first good news is that time passed quickly..... I don't consider myself to be any kind of expert, but overall your mixes come across well listening on my tablet thingy (that has surprisingly good sound all things considered). I agree with the comments re guitars on the song mentioned here. I get what you're going for, but maybe slightly overcooked. For future reference, if asked to name someone here who regularly nails a mix, Nigel would probably be the first person I (and I'm sure others) would think of, so any advice from him should probably be considered to be good advice. Based on a single listen Stranger Things is probably the stand out track for me. Listened to as a whole the album is maybe a bit one-paced/samey, but I guess you could also just call that consistent. At one point the next song appeared to have the change of pace/mood that I had been kind of partly waiting for ......and my ears pricked up a little.... Ooh I thought, here we go......that turned out to be an advert, LOL! Anyway, it's all good. On a personal note I would have liked to hear a little more grit in the vocals, but that's personal taste rather than a fault as such. Congrats on finishing the first one. I'll be interested to hear what comes next.   Thanks so much for taking the time to listen to the whole album Paulo and thanks for your feedback. I'm glad that you enjoyed it a bit and your observations are all pretty valid I think. Stranger things is definitely the track that seems to be the most popular. As for grit in the vocals, I'm not sure if I can manage that, I'm not really a great singer and only started a few years ago when I decided to go solo. I'm gradually getting better I think 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal Sorice Posted December 4, 2023 Share Posted December 4, 2023 As someone who is still learning Cakewalk and mixing, etc. (classical piano background) I think you did a great job! I'm still trying to get brave enough to finish and put out something for others to critique. Congratulations for taking the plunge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 5, 2023 Author Share Posted December 5, 2023 20 hours ago, Sal Sorice said: As someone who is still learning Cakewalk and mixing, etc. (classical piano background) I think you did a great job! I'm still trying to get brave enough to finish and put out something for others to critique. Congratulations for taking the plunge! Thanks Sal, it's definitely a big step releasing your own stuff. I think in time you learn to just let go and get it out there. Normally after 'Final Final Mix 12 b (Final2)' 😂 Good luck with your stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 Nice mix here on my Adams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark skinner Posted December 15, 2023 Share Posted December 15, 2023 Very Nice and clear mixes. For future songs I think more "low" harmony would ground the vocals a little better. Especially in songs with such high melody lines. Great album especially for a debut.    Enjoyed it .. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 15, 2023 Author Share Posted December 15, 2023 1 hour ago, Wookiee said: Nice mix here on my Adams. Great to hear, thanks for listening 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XLSX Music Posted December 15, 2023 Author Share Posted December 15, 2023 1 hour ago, mark skinner said: Very Nice and clear mixes. For future songs I think more "low" harmony would ground the vocals a little better. Especially in songs with such high melody lines. Great album especially for a debut.    Enjoyed it .. mark Thanks for listening and your feedback Mark. I'll bare that in mind about looking for lower harmonies. I think I just automatically think about higher ones for some reason. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark skinner Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 8 hours ago, XLSX Music said: I'll bare that in mind about looking for lower harmonies. I think I just automatically think about higher ones for some reason. I think we all do .  But .. a quiet low harmony and even "whispering" under a lead vocal can add a tremondous amount of thickening . It's So much easier than singing higher . No reason not to try it , even before your high harmony's are done.      ms 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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